Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque facing more and more harassment, with identity of ancient city being erased by Israel step by step, says Recep Tayyip Erdogan
More than 120 Jewish settlers have broken into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound under protection of Israeli forces to mark the Jewish celebration of Passover.
An estimated 30,000 worshipers held the Friday prayers at the blessed al-Aqsa mosque despite the tightened restrictions and beefed-up military deployments at the holy site gates and across the Old City of Jerusalem.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned in strongest terms the recent attack by Israeli soldiers targeting the Muslim worshipers at al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has condemned the ongoing Israeli restrictions against Palestinian worshipers entering holy al-Aqsa Mosque during the fasting month of Ramadan.
The far-right Israeli minister, Itmar Ben Gvir has called on the Zionists to attack al-Aqsa Mosque during the fasting month of Ramadan in yet another anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian move.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Islamic Endowments Department, Waqf, in the occupied city of Jerusalem said the iron barriers were installed at the gates of King Faisal, Al-Ghawanmeh and Al-Hadid, describing the move as “dangerous and unprecedented”.
Israeli forces have prevented hundreds of Palestinians who wanted to perform the nigh prayer of the holy month of Ramadan from entering the holy site and beat a number of them.
Only 13,000 people were able to enter the Mosque to perform prayers, compared to more than 50,000 on regular Fridays, said an official in the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem.
“Israel imposed additional restrictions on female inmates after October 7,” Amarneh told the media on Friday after arriving at her family’s home in Ya’bad town near Jenin in the northern West Bank.
“Al-Aqsa Flood Operation is proceeding on the ground according to plan,” said the group’s spokesman Abu Ubaida in a statement, according to the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa satellite channel.